Originally posted by techweenie You know why some of us laugh at the Bush boosters?

It's because everything he does is so transparently stage-managed. From the Biloxi appearance day before yesterday, where food and water distribution was set up, W appeared, gave his little talk, and then everything -- including the aid truck -- was packed up and drove off.

now the story behind it:
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Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid.
But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas."
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Lets not conflate here...Bush is obviously genuine and Clinton obviously a fraud...In fact one could make the case that Bush's is genuine to his own detriment...Do you see Bush tooting his own horn regarding the economy?...Iraq?...terrorist kills?...terrorist cells dismantled in the USA?...No, you don't....Far cry from Clinton who attempted quite successfully to take credit for all things good in the 90s (with a little help from his media friends, of course).

I just wonder how this raw footage got out?...I am sure a majority of news organizations cut the video to elimate the incrimating falsity of the typical Clinton histrionics.

Originally posted by techweenie:
"You know why some of us laugh at the Bush boosters?

It's because everything he does is so transparently stage-managed. From the Biloxi appearance day before yesterday, where food and water distribution was set up, W appeared, gave his little talk, and then everything -- including the aid truck -- was packed up and drove off."

I commented on this yesterday; the Secret Service runs things when the President is out and about.

Don't confuse the security measures they take as something being done for political gain. Events are carefully controlled -- or if necessary, "staged" -- whether the President is a Democrat or Republican.

In reporting on President Bush's September 2 visit to New Orleans to survey damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, most national media outlets* have ignored reports that helicopter flights were banned for the duration of Bush's stay, stalling relief efforts and preventing sick and injured survivors from being airlifted to treatment centers.

Citing Rep. Charlie Melancon's (D-LA) chief of staff, a September 3 New Orleans Times-Picayune article reported that crews were unable to deliver three tons of food for hurricane survivors in Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish and Algiers Point on September 2, as "air traffic was halted because of President Bush's visit to New Orleans." The food, secured by Melancon and Bob Odom, Louisiana's agriculture commissioner, "baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana," according to the Times-Picayune. A September 2 Associated Press article reported the difficulty Melancon had in contacting Bush regarding federal aid for refugees in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes and also noted Melancon's claim that the restriction on air traffic hindered getting aid to those parishes. According to the AP:

In St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, just south of New Orleans, victims of the hurricane are still waiting for food and water and for buses to escape the floodwaters, Melancon said. And for the entire time Bush was in the state, the congressman said, a ban on helicopter flights further stalled the delivery of food and supplies.

"I thank the president for his visit today, but it was more show than substance," Melancon said. "Frankly, we needed action days ago."

Another September 2 AP article cited a paramedic who reported that helicopters transporting sick and injured refugees to a makeshift treatment center at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport were "stopped" upon Bush's arrival, though the AP did not indicate the duration or effect of their grounding. According to the AP: "Helicopters flying patients in for treatment were stopped Friday when President Bush arrived. But the president didn't enter the airport, which swelled with armed guards during his visit, [paramedic James] Teague said."

A Nexis search of national print and broadcast news reports from September 2-6 revealed that, aside from the AP, no other major news outlet reported the claims regarding the effect of Bush's visit on the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Citing White House press secretary Scott McClellan, The New York Times reported on September 6 that Bush "did not want to disrupt continuing relief efforts" in New Orleans during his return visit to Louisiana on September 5 but failed to note Melancon's claim that Bush had disrupted relief efforts three days earlier.

From the September 6 New York Times:

Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Bush did not go to New Orleans Monday because he had visited it on Friday. On that visit, however, he did not go to the Superdome or the convention center, where tens of thousands of largely poor and black victims had been desperate for food and water for days, and some older evacuees had died in their wheelchairs. Mr. Bush did speak at the New Orleans airport and visit the repair work under way at the 17th Street Canal, where he met with workers, some of whom had lost their homes.

Mr. McClellan also said Mr. Bush steered clear of New Orleans Monday because he did not want to disrupt continuing relief efforts.

"Today, he wanted to visit citizens of New Orleans who have been evacuated and are in need of continued assistance, as well as volunteers who are helping them," Mr. McClellan said in an e-mail message.

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Apparently subsequently, that concern about interrupting relief efforts was trumped by the need to pose with firefighters.

There is obviously PR staging that any president will engage in, but Clinton was THE most staged and phoney president in my memory. It seems hypocritical to imply that Bush is more "staged" than past presidents have been.

Originally posted by competentone Originally posted by techweenie:
"You know why some of us laugh at the Bush boosters?

It's because everything he does is so transparently stage-managed. From the Biloxi appearance day before yesterday, where food and water distribution was set up, W appeared, gave his little talk, and then everything -- including the aid truck -- was packed up and drove off."

I commented on this yesterday; the Secret Service runs things when the President is out and about.

Don't confuse the security measures they take as something being done for political gain. Events are carefully controlled -- or if necessary, "staged" -- whether the President is a Democrat or Republican.

There was nothing political about Biloxi; that was done for security.

I don't disagree that some of this is universal. However, staging events in a disaster area is completely different. And I don't see how packing up the food and water after the Biloxi photo op can be classified as a 'security measure.' Could you elaborate?

Originally posted by techweenie I don't disagree that some of this is universal. However, staging events in a disaster area is completely different. And I don't see how packing up the food and water after the Biloxi photo op can be classified as a 'security measure.' Could you elaborate?

How much food and water did you see was packed up, and how many trucks were sent to where?
Could you elaborate?

Originally posted by techweenie And I don't see how packing up the food and water after the Biloxi photo op can be classified as a 'security measure.' Could you elaborate?

I don't know the details on this particular event, but if the Secret Service borrowed the food and water from some other location while they set up the secure location for the President, they would have to return what they borrowed to where they borrowed it from.

If they didn't, I'm sure you would be ranting about how the Secret Service interfered with the relief effort by taking food and water that was set to be distributed elsewhere!

Originally posted by competentone I don't know the details on this particular event, but if the Secret Service borrowed the food and water from some other location while they set up the secure location for the President, they would have to return what they borrowed to where they borrowed it from.

If they didn't, I'm sure you would be ranting about how the Secret Service interfered with the relief effort by taking food and water that was set to be distributed elsewhere!

You realize of course, that that wasn't a pig farm? It was really a secret UFO landing base. Yeah, that's it...
After he cleared the brush away, the UFO's were going to land......and.......and then take all of his political opponents to the planet Zarfog.......yeah......So he can rule the world!

Originally posted by competentone I don't know the details on this particular event, but if the Secret Service borrowed the food and water from some other location while they set up the secure location for the President, they would have to return what they borrowed to where they borrowed it from.

If they didn't, I'm sure you would be ranting about how the Secret Service interfered with the relief effort by taking food and water that was set to be distributed elsewhere!

Judge for yourself. Details are sketchy:

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There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.

ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.
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